Global insight

Qatar welcomes first A350-1000 test aircraft

THE A350-1000 test aircraft, described by European plane-maker Airbus as the most advanced widebody aircraft, has made its first stop in the State of Qatar.

It touched down at Qatar Airways’ Doha hub, as part of a demonstration tour of 12 destinations across the Middle East and Asia Pacific. As global launch customer of the A350-1000, Qatar has ordered 37 of the type and is scheduled to take delivery of the first one off the Airbus assembly line in Toulouse, France, next month.

Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group chief executive, welcomed the arrival of the A350-1000 test aircraft to the capital of Qatar.

The aircraft performed a fly-by over the iconic Doha corniche, witnessed by dignitaries who were given a guided tour of the A350-1000 hosted by Al Baker. Qatar Airways operates a wide range of Airbus passenger and cargo aircraft in its fleet, which is one of the youngest in the world, with an average age of just five years.

The latest model, which is the most recent member of the A350 XWB family, has a longer fuselage allowing it to accommodate 40 more passengers than the A350-900 (in a typical three-class configuration), and features a modified wing trailing-edge, new six-wheel main landing gears and more powerful Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines.

So far, eleven customers from five continents have placed orders for a total of 169 A350-1000s, Airbus reveals.